UK businesses are ramping up efforts to offer Ukrainian refugees jobs and help with visas.
(Picture: AP)UK businesses are ramping up efforts to support the plight of Ukrainianrefugees fleeing the war in their country by offering jobs and support with visas.
An initial group of firms were galvanized by Emma Sinclair MBE, a business woman who is coordinating with efforts to offer support.
Major household names including Marks & Spencer and grocers such as Tesco are offering jobs and accommodation to those fleeing from the war in Ukraine, with many also offering to help refugees secure visas.
Thousands of jobs are now potentially available for Ukrainian nationals fleeing the conflict with Russia.
Here are some of the businesses who have pledged support so far:
Marks & Spencer
The retailer is among those that have joined the consortium organised by Emma Sinclair, stating that it would support the humanitarian effort with its charity partners and with jobs.
Pret
Sandwich chain Pret has extended a pre-existing scheme helping refugees to be fast-tracked into jobs here in Britain. It is aiming to help 50 Ukrainians to resettle and get jobs here in the UK.
Refugees will be offered emotional and financial support, such as 1-2-1 counselling, English tuition, vouchers to cover household items and assistance with housing.
Morrisons
The supermarket chain has said it could offer hundreds of jobs in roles as varied as butchers and fishmongers to shop-floor staff and warehouse operatives.
Aldi
German value supermarket Aldi is offering 8,000 roles for Ukrainian refugees. Open roles include: Assistant Store Manager, Store Assistant, Stock Assistant, Selector, Logistics Assistant, as well as other office-based administration roles.
Kelly Stokes, recruitment director at Aldi UK, said: “We stand by the people of Ukraine and want to offer employment opportunities for those seeking refuge in the UK.
“By working with the government, partners and other employers, we hope to help as many people as possible and provide much needed stability and security in their lives.”
Asos
The online fashion retailer is examining the possibility of recruiting Ukrainian refugees for IT engineering roles in the UK. Ukraine is well-known as a tech hub, with the country recognised last year as the fourth-largest supplier of tech talent to the world.
Lidl
Lidl has contacted the UK government to offer jobs to newly arrived Ukrainians, as it prepares to open a regional distribution centre in Luton, creating 1,200 jobs.
UK boss Ryan McDonnell said: “We have thousands of live job vacancies and so we are in contact with Government to understand how we can help individuals coming from Ukraine with employment opportunities”.
Lidl currently has 3,000 job vacancies across the UK.
Vodafone
The telecommunications giant has said it is offering fast-track opportunities to Ukrainians across Europe and is also helping them obtain visas.
The firm has pledged to offer free connectivity to 200,000 refugees arriving in the UK from Ukraine through its charities.connected initiative.
Tesco
Earlier this month, the grocer said it had made 1,400 roles available for refugees in its central European business
It is establishing a Ukrainian language recruitment helpline and providing language training for successful applicants, according to The Times.
Britvic
Britvic, the maker of Robinson’s squash, told the Evening Standard that it wanted to help Ukrainian refugees.
Elly Tomlins, the firm’s chief people officer, said: “We’re keen to support the Ukrainian people and we will join the business community to offer jobs to those fleeing the conflict.
“We have roles here in everything from marketing and procurement to engineering and sales, and our multiple sites around the UK mean we’re in a position to offer roles to people in multiple locations.”
The firm added it had 130 vacancies at present and was “always looking for diverse backgrounds and experiences, as we seek to build a wholly inclusive culture”.
Circle Health Group
The UK’s largest independent healthcare provider has said it will sponsor up to 500 work visas for Ukrainian refugees across its 54 sites in England, Scotland and Wales.
The company, which runs the London Independent Hospital in Stepney Green, announced the move ahead of the Government’s new sponsorship programme for businesses to provide visas and employment opportunities for Ukrainian refugees.
As well as clinical roles, Circle Health will offer administrative, engineering, logistics and project management positions.
Paolo Pieri, Circle Health Group CEO said: "As one of the UK’s big employers, Circle want to offer jobs and a fresh start to Ukrainian refugees forced to flee from their homeland. We are eager to help in some small way and stand with the Ukrainian people in this moment of unspeakable suffering."
